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FIRST IN MT — Pols write Foxx on trucker hours: A group of 51 House members have written Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx about the recent hours-of-service rules for truckers, singling out the 34 hour restart provision. The bipartisan coalition, which includes a slew of T&I members such as Democrat Mike Michaud of Maine, wrote that the rules “mandate inflexible rest periods” at an industry cost of $376 million a year. The group said finalizing the rule before FMCSA filed its “statistically-valid field study” was a move that ran “counter to a commonsense approach to regulation.” The members — led by Reps. Richard Hanna, Tom Rice, Trey Radel and Todd Rokita — ask for a response by Sept. 12. Take a look at the letter and the signatories, which also includes former T&I Chairman John Mica: http://politico.pro/17wgxzT

SPEAK UP, CONGRESS: When it comes to infrastructure funding, Secretary Foxx said recently that what we’ve seen from the administration — in the form of the FY 14 budget — is all we’ll get for now. “Just a few weeks ago, he talked about a way to connected corporate tax reform to infrastructure repair … so the president is putting things on the table,” Foxx said after a speech. “I think we need to hear from Congress as to their receptivity to those ideas and if they don’t support those ideas, what ideas do they support? We need an affirmative outcome here on transportation funding, but it’s got to be a dialogue. It can’t be a monologue.”

Distracted driving push continues: Foxx is picking up right where Ray LaHood left off on distracted driving. MT asked the secretary about the recent AAA poll showing Americans slightly less worried about distracted driving, and Foxx didn’t take the issue lightly. “There’s no question more people are aware of distracted driving and some of the challenges. But we’ve got to keep our pressure on in the country on this issue because we’re not at zero deaths, and until we get there, we’re going to have to keep pressing pretty hard,” he said. Foxx cited continued action by states (Illinois recently implemented a $75 fine for using a cell phone while driving: http://bit.ly/1cAlOrq). “We’re starting to see states adopting measures. … We want to see the momentum pick up. I think the effort has really taken on with local leaders and with governors and we’re going to keep pushing that as much as we can,” Foxx said.

TUESDAY IS THE NEW MONDAY. Thanks for reading POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on trains, planes and automobiles, where today’s anniversary shout-out goes to the Buzz-Wagon, the first car made in Flint, Mich., which appeared in the town’s Labor Day parade on this day in 1900: http://bit.ly/19T2pkg. Please be in touch: asnider@politico.com. And follow on Twitter: @AdamKSnider and @POLITICOPro.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE: A rejuvenated and rested Congress comes back soon — some members already are thanks to Syria — and lawmakers face a slew of high-profile issues like military strikes in Syria, boosting the nation’s debt limit and avoiding a government shutdown before Oct. 1. The House is only in session nine days this month, taking the week of the 23rd off, but the Senate is set to be working the three remaining weeks in September. Amid the political posturing over the big headline-grabbing issues, members and staff are working on some big transportation bills — the House T&I Committee should roll out WRRDA before too long, and panels on both sides of the dome are still crafting their Amtrak measures.

NEW BAY BRIDGE SPAN OPENS: The eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened last night to little fanfare after the $6.4 billion project saw cost overruns and delays. Sac Bee has more: http://bit.ly/17vUrxq

MERGER TRIAL DATE SET: A tentative trial date for the Justice Department's challenge to the proposed merger of American Airlines and US Airways has been set for Nov. 25. That's far sooner than what the administration wanted — DOJ's lawyers had asked U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for a March trial; the airlines had asked for a Nov. 12 trial date. The union for US Airways' flight attendants quickly leapt on the announcement, saying they are “optimistic that the judge will agree that the benefits of this merger, for both workers and consumers alike, will help to create a stronger aviation system.” Reuters: http://reut.rs/1cogCa3

PRO STORIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED, BUT SHOULDN’T HAVE

- The recent nationwide downtick in driving isn’t just because of the bad economy — younger people are getting behind the wheel less often than their parents, according to a new analysis of a trend that started in 2004. Adam: http://politico.pro/1co7TVj

- The FAA needs to reduce how long it takes to train an air traffic controller, the DOT IG finds in a report. It’s especially important with the agency set to hire 11,000 new controllers by 2021. Kathryn: http://politico.pro/195sX0M

- Secretary Foxx framed transportation options as an issue of racial equality but had a broader message that could apply to most of the groups lobbying for more infrastructure spending: “I find that these issues are incredibly local. Infrastructure is a big word; it’s almost an abstract word. But there are bridges right where you live that need to get fixed,” he said. “When this issue becomes local, it will become national again.” Adam: http://politico.pro/174lrmI

- NTSB Chairwoman Debbie Hersman doubled down on the agency’s call for a lower 0.05 blood alcohol limit for drunk driving, something that’s going nowhere on the Hill any time soon. “We didn’t issue this recommendation to create controversy,” she said. “We issued this recommendation because the science supported it.” Kathryn: http://politico.pro/1dBCVvP

- “I was shocked to see that you changed your operating procedures to use two-person train crews in Canada, but not the United States,” FRA head Joe Szabo wrote to the company involved in the fatal Lac-Megantic crash. Kevin: http://politico.pro/15pAOpT

- Oil magnate T. Boone Pickens is still working to boost natural gas use, but isn’t spending the big bucks he used to selling the Pickens Plan. Darren Goode: http://politico.pro/14KfZpz

WORLD WIDE TRANSPO WEB: There’s a pair of new transpo sites of note. AOPA has a new blog, Opinion Leaders, featuring 10 different aviation experts: http://bit.ly/19dH4RM. And AASHTO has a new website for its 100th anniversary next year: http://bit.ly/137brbI

THE AUTOBAHN (SPEED READ)

- Tucson gets it first new streetcars, but you’ll have a wait a bit to ride one. Arizona Daily Star: http://bit.ly/174eWjV

- The League of American Bicyclists isn’t a fan of DOT’s new strategic plan and the two-week comment period. http://bit.ly/15RXmQh

- A look at Metro’s proposed changes to the 5A bus line to Dulles in light of the Silver Line. PlanItMetro: http://bit.ly/17lL530

- U.S. Open players in NYC complain about traffic; The Atlantic Cities says they should just take the train: http://bit.ly/15nSr6j

—The U.S. public's opinion of both the airline and automobile industries improved from 2012 to 2013, according to a Gallup poll (http://bit.ly/15rKnEU). Democrats have a higher view of the auto industry, but more Republicans are bullish on the airline industry (http://bit.ly/1dlepjw).

—The “I’m Stuck” app from Building America’s Future that connects frustrated travelers with their members of Congress to call for more infrastructure funding has users in all 50 states and D.C. and over 10,000 downloads.

—DOT has proposed a $350K fine for United Airlines for what it says are inaccurate reports on mishandled baggage and for failing to refund consumers' money promptly. http://1.usa.gov/18yTYrj

—DDOT taking applications for PARK(ing) Day on Sept. 20, where people can turn an on-street parking spot into a mini green space, complete with grass and lawn chairs. Applications due by Sept. 11. http://parkingday.org/

—The FRA’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee held an emergency meeting on safety measures in response to the Lac-Megantic crash. http://1.usa.gov/17AptSW

THE COUNTDOWN: DOT funding and passenger rail policy both run out in 28 days. Surface transportation policy is up in 393 days and FAA policy in 758 days. The mid-term elections are in 427 days.

CABOOSE — Hitched: MT alum Burgess Everett got married to a wonderful woman in a beautiful ceremony in Maine over the August break. Your MT host was honored to head up to Portland for what turned out to be the perfect transportation weekend — no flight delays, no traffic in the drive from Manchester, N.H., and no ankles broken while walking on the old cobblestone sidewalks. But the best part might have been a Maine license plate on a pickup your host followed for a bit on I-95: “MT MICA.”